Guzmania are predominantly epiphytic with a few terrestrial species and are native to the tropics. For the most part species vary in diameter from 7 or 8 inches to 3 or 4 feet and have rosettes of glossy, smooth edged leaves.
Floral bracts of Guzmania frequently have brilliant colors and may last for many months. The range of colors for Guzmania is generally from yellow through orange but may also include flame red and red-purple. White or yellow, tubular, three-petalled flowers may also appear on a stem or within the leaf rosette but are usually short-lived.
Guzmania may be advantageously grown as pot plants for greenhouse or home use. The plants are generally grown in shade and during the spring to autumn period the central vase-like part of the leaf rosette is filled with water.
Guzmania is native to tropical America. Leaves of Guzmania are usually formed as basal rosettes which are stiff and entire and in several vertical ranks. Guzmania have terminal spikes or panicles which are often bracted with petals united in a tube about as long as the calyx. The ovary is superior and the seeds plumose.
Asexual propagation of Guzmania is frequently done through the use of tissue culture practices. Propagation can also be from off-shoots produced by the plant which may then be rooted. The resulting plantlets are detached from the mother plant and may be potted up in a suitable growing mixture.
Methods for cultivation and breeding of Guzmania are well known. For a detailed discussion, reference is made to the following publications, which are incorporated herein by reference. Benzing, David H., THE BIOLOGY OF THE BROMELIADS, Mad River Press, Inc., Eureka (1980); Zimmer, Karl, BROMELIEN, Verlag Paul Parey, Berlin (1986); and Rauh, Werner, BROMELIEN, Verlag Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart (1981).
The new cultivar `Bolero` is a product of a planned breeding program in Assendelft, The Netherlands, in 1986. A selection of Guzmania wittmackii identified by Code No. 8626202 was crossed with a selection of Guzmania lingulata minor, identified by Code No. 8626204. The progeny of this cross were first flowered in 1988.
Asexual propagation of progeny from the cross was first made by off-shoots. Asexual propagation by tissue culture commenced in 1990. The first plants propagated through tissue culture flowered in 1994. The new cultivar `Bolero` is a naturally occurring whole plant mutation of an unnamed plant from the progeny of the stated cross. The new cultivar `Bolero` was identified in 1995. The selection was first asexually propagated through tissue culture by, or under the supervision of, the inventors in Assendelft, beginning in 1996. Continuous asexual propagation has demonstrated that the combination of characteristics as herein disclosed for the new cultivar `Bolero`, as observed in Assendelft, the Netherlands, are firmly fixed and are retained through successive generations of asexual reproduction.
`Bolero` has not been tested under all available environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary with variations in environment conditions such as temperature, light intensity, frequency of fertilization, composition of fertilizer, acetylene treatment, day length and humidity without, however, any change in the genotype of the new cultivar.
The closest comparison cultivar is Guzmania `Salsa` described in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 10,369. The most important difference between these cultivars is that `Bolero` has a white inflorescene.